Pruning and planting vines in the Vineyard Hotel's vineyard

Twice a year, or more, we are invited to come and tend the vine of which we have been made custodians in the Vineyard Hotel’s small vineyard. This is the time of year when we go to prune our vine (and others whose owners cannot attend) and each year we learn a little more of this art from very skilled people. Last Saturday, we pruned and then we were delighted to help them plant up a new small vineyard of Chardonnay, on a newly acquired property alongside the current vineyard. We were rewarded with a really lovely lunch and some special wines made by the vineyards that sponsor the vine rows

Meeting early on Saturday morning next to the Liesbeek River for a glass of Bubbly

Kitty, the matriarch of the Petousis family who own the Vineyard Hotel. She has just celebrated her 91st birthday, on the 17th of August. Kitty bought the riverside property next to the Vineyard hotel, where the new vineyard is planted

We were given a lesson in pruning from the Farm Manager of Warwick, Ronald Spies

Mike Bampfield Duggan of Wine Concepts puts the lesson into practice

Kitty's son and MD of the Vineyard George Petousis

Eddie Turner of Meerlust shows his pruning skills to Mike Bampfield Duggan

Everyone putting the lessons into practice

Wendy Masters of the Phoenix Partnership, who handle the Vineyard Hotel’s PR, with her daughter Holly

The three rows at the front are Sauvignon Blanc, the two rows on the back terrace are Semillon

The Ford vine successfully pruned by Lynne. We hope for a good harvest this El Nino year

One of our other teachers is Kevin Arnold of Waterford wines; they sponsor one of the rows

You take off all of the old vine stems, except one strong two year old stem and cut that off just above two buds. You also try to leave one small bud on the same junction which will provide the branch for the following year

A break for some Simonsig Kaapse Vonkel MCC - another sponsor of a row

Finishing off, all is neat and tidy and we now must wait for the buds to break when the weather becomes warmer

The new vineyard. The holes have been dug for the new vines, but we need a lesson in how to best plant them

Pruning over for this year, Ronald shows us the new Chardonnay vines we will be planting and the roots

The vine roots have been trimmed

Spread out the roots and cover with some soil then using a fork, (never a spade, it makes the sides of the hole too firm and the roots wont break through), pull in some soil from around the hole and plant the vine securely. You do need someone to hold the vine straight. Restaurant manager David Wibberley holds it tight. The graft must be well above the soil

Then tamp the soil around the vine down with your foot

Kevin Arnold christens the first Chardonnay vine planted with some Simonsig Kaapse Vonkel

It's in place and hopefully we will see good growth

It’s mucky work planting vines

Lynne planted this one

John planted one next to it. We chose the top terrace next to the wall for it to get the maximum light and perhaps some reflected warmth from the wall

And then it was time for lunch. On the buffet, an Asian style prawn salad

Blanched broccoli spears, with feta and raw almonds

Artichokes, roasted pepperoni (red peppers), anchovies, fresh basil and croutons

Two great ladies: winemaker Norma Ratcliffe of Warwick (another sponsor) with Kitty Petousis

On the braai: grilled salmon

Butterflied lamb seared to perfection

The chef, Shane Louw, grilling next to the pool. There was also pork belly and good steak

We drank a selection of special Sponsors’ wines with lunch; some vintage, some current releases

Holly needing a nap? or some exercise

Having a lovely time

Kevin Arnold, Eddie Turner and Roy Davis introduce the four Vineyard vintages made so far for us to taste. 2012, 2013, 2014 & 2015

And we all tasted them. Each vintage is quite different from the others. The first one made from a very small quantity of grapes, from the first harvest in 2012, was pressed by foot and wine writer Neil Pendock who helped and has his own vine, christened it the Toe Jam wine. It has matured. The 2013 is resting. The 2014 is probably at its peak and was nice and crisp and lively. The 2015 is nervous and has still to come into its own, having just been bottled, but looks very interesting. It will be a few years before we can add the Chardonnay to the blend. It takes a while for the vines to mature and produce good grapes for wine

Food and Beverage Manager Matt Dietchmann brings out the chef so we can applaud the great food

Thank you Vineyard Hotel for giving us this opportunity to learn much more about growing vines

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2015

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Big Bottle Festival, The Cape Town Club

And what a social affair this festival was. Held at The Cape Town Club in Queen Victoria Street, it is a chance to taste wines matured in big bottles from magnum size(contains 2 bottles) and upwards. You may not know that wine matures much better in a bigger bottle and of course they are very useful for parties and large dinners. The wine farms taking part had tables on both floors in all the available rooms and some of the top chefs from those wine farms were doing food to complement the wines. It was incredibly well attended so it was a little crowded and because we had a fantastic warm Spring day, it was rather hot. Air conditioning is needed. The wines were magnificent

Cathy Grier, Anne Ferreira and Sandra Engelen. Sandra has just bought the Restaurant at Chart Farm

Ken Forrester and his assistant pourer with his marvellous FMC (Forrester Meinert Chenin or, as we know it in the trade, eFFFing Marvellous Chenin)

He also had magnums of this Grenache Syrah and two vintages of The Gypsy

Julian Brewer pouring Villiera Tradition MCC bubbly

The girls on the Drappier Champagne stand with a happy customer

Nicola Jenvey, Durban journalist, and Norman McFarlane tasting Adam Mason’s  Mulderbosch Chenin blanc

Delaire Graff had magnums of their Coastal Cuvée Sauvignon blanc

Duncan Savage was getting lots of attention for his Cape Point Isleidh

A chef from Catharina’s at Steenberg with his mussel soup

Juicy mussels waiting for their soup

The crowd in the front room

Dead soldiers of Jacquart Champagne

Christa von la Chevallerie and Mark Oosthuizen having a happy afternoon

Domaine de Dieux showed both their Rose of Sharon and the award winning Claudia MCC Brut

Michelle Elford showing their double magnum of Jacques Bruère MCC

JD Pretorius on the Steenberg stand was admirably pouring the Nebbiolo from this huge heavy bottle into that tiny decanter. The wine was lively, fruity and fun, definitely a food wine

The chefs from Bombay Brasserie at the Taj hotel had a very spicy, delicious Indian lamb aushak

The Graham Beck Brut was hugely popular

In the smoking room. Sadly, the smoke was wafting into the tasting areas

A view from the first floor of the octagonal hallway

Michelle van Eeden and Thomas Webb on the Thelema/Sutherland stand

The big man Nils Verburg with his amazing Luddite Shiraz.

Natalie Opstaele with the Almenkerk 2011 Syrah

German Consul General Klaus Stoss getting a taste of the Almenkerk 2011 Syrah

That leg once had meat on it! Sebastian and Nici Beaumont with their 2013 Beaumont Chenin blanc Demi-sec

Duncan Savage, Jennifer Holmes and Luke O’Cuinnegan having fun

Time to pack up and go home. All the bottles were empty

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2015

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New wines with lunch at Vrede en Lust, Franschhoek

 Back again to Franschhoek on Friday for a tasting of some new wines and a vertical tasting of one of Vrede and Lust's two flagship wines, The Boet Erasmus (Simonsberg-Paarl): a Bordeaux style blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Malbec. This was followed by a light lunch in Lust restaurant. This is one of the most energy efficient green farms in the Cape. The vineyards vie for space with solar panels

The gathering started in the cellar vestibule where we were introduced to two Artisan wines; a Riesling from Elgin and a Semillon. These wines are hand made in very small quantities and only available for their wine club members.

The tasting was held in the barrel cellar, perhaps a little chilly for August

Good canapés of cheese shortbread topped with Boursin and mini heirloom tomatoes

Also very fresh tuna which was seared, kebabed and then dressed with a sweet Asian umami sauce

The wines being poured

Joint owner (with his brother Dana) Etienne Buys opened the tasting with some history of the farm and the wines. Founded in 1688 by French Huguenot Jacques de Savoye, the Buys family are the 17th owners. Etienne is the viticulturist, supervises the vineyards and oversaw the building of the very modern winery

Winemaker Susan Erasmus explained her winemaking philosophy

and talked about the wines we were about to taste. We tasted another Semillon, the Barrique 2009 (R120) very elegant, an Elgin Kogelberg 2013 Chenin Blanc (R120) full of zesty orange peel and minerality. The Casey's Ridge 2014 Pinot Noir (R175), a new addition, grown on their Elgin farm

And then we did the vertical tasting of the Boet Erasmus (R175). He was the maternal grandfather of the Buys brothers. We tasted from 2007 through to the current release the 2012. The constituent grapes have varied slightly in the quantity used through the years and we found that the blend is recognisable. We particularly liked the 2011 full of violets and perfumed fruit on the nose. Lovely soft berry fruits, soft chalky tannins with liquorice wood on the end. As the vines get more mature, so the flavours of this wine are gathering their skirts together. The 2012 is even more complex and layered

We then proceeded to lunch next door at Lust restaurant

A display of the wines in a niche

The lunch menu

Their good artisanal sourdough bread

Non-meat eaters got herb crusted salmon on sweet potato puree

Meat eaters got a hefty sirloin steak topped with a marrowbone, served with heritage carrots, a good wine jus and sweet potato puree. We drank some of the wines we had tasted in the cellar

Dessert wasn't dessert but a savour goats curd cheese patty, breaded & fried, topped with candied baby beets and dressed with walnuts and olive oil and raw beetroot slices. So wanted a slice of their chocolate cake...

Enjoying a coffee before taking the transport back to town

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2015

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